Greener drive

PUBLISHED: 02:01 24 April 2008 | UPDATED: 09:00 10 June 2010

THE Devon Cliffs Holiday Park has launched a new drive to go greener with a series of environmental initiatives. The park's 16 vans have been switched to bio-diesel made from used cooking chip oil from the resort's own kitchens - last year 3,000 litres of

THE Devon Cliffs Holiday Park has launched a new drive to go greener with a series of environmental initiatives.The park's 16 vans have been switched to bio-diesel made from used cooking chip oil from the resort's own kitchens - last year 3,000 litres of cooking oil was used.The initiative is just one of several energy-saving measures being carried out before the summer season begins.All the light bulbs in the park's main entertainment complex and restaurants have been switched to low-energy alternatives.And the bulbs on 450 caravans were also changed - in total 3,000 light bulbs were changed at a cost of £4,500. John Ball, environmental manager, said he expected to recoup the cost in reduced electricity bills within 12 months.The holiday park has also installed low-use shower heads in all the caravans rented out to holidaymakers. The shower heads contain an innovative "resistor" which saves between four and eight litres of water per minute - while actually improving the performance of the shower.Similar water-saving devices have also been fitted to taps, and Mr Ball said the £14,000 exercise is expected to pay for itself in savings in water consumption within six months.He added: "Some 60 per cent of the caravans on the park are privately owned as holiday homes and our next venture will be to try and persuade those owners to switch to low-energy light bulbs, again using the high-quality ones we have already used elsewhere.